Federal Judge Warns Government Lawyers in Clinton Email Case: ‘No FOIA Exemption for Political Expedience’

The Honorable Royce C. Lamberth(C), acting Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, makes remarks after giving the Oath of Allegiance to new U.S. citizens from 28 countries during a Naturalization Ceremony in the Rotunda of the U.S. Constitution at the National Archives in Washington Dec. 15, 2005. Thirty five new Americans from 28 countries took the oath of citizenship. Tim Sloan/AFP via Getty Images

WASHINGTON—U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth upbraided government attorneys in the Hillary Clinton email case, warning them that “there is no FOIA exemption for political expedience, nor is there one for bureaucratic incompetence.”

Lamberth’s comment came in his Aug. 22 decision approving Judicial Watch’s request for expanded discovery in the nonprofit’s lawsuit related to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email system to conduct official business, and efforts by her, senior aides on her staff, and other federal officials to conceal the system.